1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of writing information to an optical medium, and more particularly to a system and method for optical medium label alignment.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
As information handling systems have become more common and have improved in the speed at which they process information, increasing amounts of information have been generated for storage. Optical media provide a sensible and relatively inexpensive solution for storing large quantities of information on a portable material. Generally, an optical medium stores information by altering the reflective qualities of a data layer material with a focused laser and allows retrieval of information by reflection of the focused laser against the altered material to measure the reflected light characteristics. Although optical media provide a convenient and portable storage solution, one difficulty faced by users of optical media is tracking the contents on any given optical medium without having to insert the medium in an information handling system to read the contents. To address this difficulty, optical media labeling solutions have emerged that write labels on the non-storage side of an optical medium. After a user writes information on the storage side of an optical medium, the user turns the optical medium over in the drive to write labels on the non-storage side, such as list of the contents. The labels are written with the optical drive's laser which interacts with chemicals on the non-storage side to make visible markings.
Information is often written to the same optical medium in separate write sessions. Each time the optical medium storage side is placed on an optical drive spindle, the center of rotation of the optical medium tends to shift so that a certain amount of eccentricity is associated with rotation of the optical medium. To adjust for this eccentricity, optical drive optical pick-up units sense and follow tracks or grooves stamped in the optical medium at manufacture. The same type of eccentricity problem exists if information is written in separate writes to the non-storage label side of an optical medium, however, the label side does not have tracks or grooves, which would disrupt the label appearance, so the optical pick-up unit is typically locked in a centered position or allowed to “float” to perform subsequent label writes. Thus, the concentric circles traced by the optical pick-up unit as the optical medium is spun by the optical drive have their radius centers randomly distributed by the interface between the optical medium and the drive spindle hub. Compact Discs (CDs) have a specified eccentricity of up to 70 micrometers so that two separate label writes may fall within the allowable standard and still have a misregistration due to misalignment of the optical medium of 140 micrometers. Where separate labels require precise alignment, especially where numerous separate label writes are performed, this eccentricity causes undesirable misalignment that detracts from the appearance of the label.